The Salafi movement in Yemen has historically been mostly apolitical, but the 2011 uprising has deeply transformed the Islamist camp.

Yemeni democracy is on hold in light of internal divisions and threats to stability.

Experts fear that Yemen is rapidly becoming a center for radicalization and a haven for extremists. At the same time, a confluence of looming domestic challenges threatens to bring the country to its knees, with potentially destabilizing consequences for the region.

Southern unrest is a symptom of the weakening patronage system forced by declining oil production.